E-mail containing live content

ABSTRACT

A system for introducing live content into an electronic mail message comprising at least one dynamic live content area sent through an e-mail service provider system comprises memory and a click manager. The memory includes live content comprising image data and expiration data. The click manager receives an indication of the opening of the message by a recipient, wherein the click manager accesses the memory to retrieve live content and send the retrieved live content for rendering in the dynamic live content area of the e-mail message opened by the one of the plurality of recipients.

BACKGROUND

The disclosed system and method relate to dynamic electronic mail(e-mail) content and more particularly to providing e-mails that havetheir final content determined or rendered after the sending of thee-mail or at the time of opening of the e-mail so that the contentdisplayed therein is timely.

The disclosed systems, methods and graphical user interfaces disclosedherein may be envisioned as extending the functionality of the DynamicContent Electronic Mail Marketing System and Method, disclosed inpending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/769,095, (published as U.S. Pub.No. 2004/0,215,479 A1). Additionally, the disclosed systems and methodsmay be implemented in other systems and methods of providing dynamiccontent e-mail messages with live content.

Since the advent of e-mails and more particularly since the popularityof utilizing e-mails transferred over the internet has increased,advertisers and others have utilized the e-mail media to convey messagesand advertising to potential customers. One problem with utilizinge-mail for conveying time sensitive information, such as, for example,notifying a potential customer of a one day sale, advertising a limitedinventory item or similar time sensitive matter, is that there is noassurance that the e-mail will be opened by a time such that theinformation is not irrelevant. For example, an e-mail advertising aprice on a limited inventory item which is opened after the entireinventory of the item is sold will not be timely.

E-mail marketers commonly know more than just the content of theirmessages; frequently they know a considerable amount about demographicsand other information regarding recipients of their messages. Thisdemographic and other information may be utilized to prepare targetede-mail messages for sending only to recipients believed to have aninterest in the content contained therein. One key in e-mail marketingsuccess is that the advertisements or other marketing materials that aredelivered fit with the expectations or interests of the recipient.Especially when a recipient is a subscriber to a newsletter or to ane-mail marketer's program or system, e-mail marketers seek to avoidabusing the permission granted by or failing to honor the privacy of thesubscriber, and providing the subscriber with irrelevant content.

One problem with e-mail advertisement is determining an appropriatepricing scheme for advertisements to be placed in e-mails. Advertiserswho place advertisements on web pages are accustomed to pricing schemeswhich result in them being charged only when there is a possibility thatthe advertisement has been seen, such as when a user views a web pageupon which the advertisement is placed, or when a user has taken someaction indicative of a possible interest in the advertisement, such asclicking on a hyperlink in the advertisement displayed on the web pagethey are viewing. Thus, one common pricing scheme utilized to selladvertising space (inventory) on web pages is based on cost per thousandimpressions of the advertising being sold (“CPM”). Typically, each viewof a web page upon which the advertisement is displayed is considered animpression in such a pricing scheme. Another common pricing scheme forelectronic advertising is to charge based on the number of interactionswith an advertisement, such as charging for each click on a hyperlinkassociated with the advertisement, which is know as cost per click(“CPC”) pricing. In other words an advertiser purchasing advertisingspace on a web page may pay a given amount for 1000 web page views withtheir ad present on that page and even higher rates for cost per clickCPC or 1000 clicks on their ad. Those skilled in the art will recognizethat advertising pricing schemes may be based on more or fewerimpressions than the above disclosed one thousand impressions or on morethan each single click.

Marketers using e-mail service providers (“ESPs”) are already placingads in their e-mails today. Entertainment venues, online hotel inventorysellers, travel websites and many other companies whose core business isnot advertising are selling ad space in e-mail messages sent to theirconsumers. Many customers and marketers would appreciate an improved wayto monetize their e-mail program. E-mail is trackable and well knownmethods exist for determining when an e-mail message is delivered, whenthe e-mail message is opened and/or when some content within the e-mailmessage is interacted with by a recipient.

Traditionally, ESPs have fixed at the time of sending of e-mails thelocation of all images to be retrieved in targeted e-mails when they areopened. Thus, what the recipient will see when they open the e-mailmessage is determined at the time it is sent, not at the time it isopened. Utilizing this traditional method of creating targeted e-mails,if an e-mail message is opened multiple times the same advertising wouldbe displayed each time it is opened, even if it is opened after sometime limit for taking advantage of the advertising has expired. Asmentioned above, advertising on web pages is sold via models wheretargeting techniques are used on every web page view or impression, toensure that the most targeted and relevant ad is presented to the enduser when viewing the web page. Also, the ads are traditionally soldbased on cost per thousand (“CPM”) to drive the ad dollar spent by theadvertiser. Currently, if an advertiser wants to place ads in an e-mail,they have difficulty selling advertising based on CPM impressionsbecause a single e-mail may be opened multiple times.

Advertisers and others sending e-mails to recipients would appreciate asystem and method wherein e-mail opens are treated like web pageimpressions, allowing the e-mail to retrieve the most targeted andrelevant advertisement for the recipient. Images contained in the e-mailmessage can be rendered at the time of open, allowing an ad-server,which may be an in-house ad server of the targeted e-mail server or athird party ad server, to treat e-mail inventory with the same logicthat drives online advertising.

Advertisers and others sending e-mails to recipients would appreciatethe ability to send e-mail messages that, no matter when the e-mailmessages are opened, contain timely content.

SUMMARY

The disclosed e-mail live content (which may include without limitationadvertisements and coupons.) behaves similar to content on a website. Inother words the content can rotate at the time of opening of an e-mailmessage, much like the content on website rotates with each impression.This would allow a business to sell ads in e-mail in the standard “costper thousand” impressions (“CPM”) or “cost per click” (“CPC”) models orpricing schemes utilized for selling advertisement presented by webpages.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, a system for introducing livecontent into an electronic mail message comprising at least one dynamiclive content area sent through an e-mail service provider systemcomprises memory and a click manager. The memory includes live contentcomprising image data and expiration data. The click manager receives anindication of the opening of the message by a recipient, wherein theclick manager accesses the memory to retrieve live content and send theretrieved live content for rendering in the dynamic live content area ofthe e-mail message opened by the one of the plurality of recipients.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a system for generatingelectronic mail containing live dynamic content comprises a first remotedevice, memory, and an e-mail provider system. The first remote devicecreates an e-mail message comprising at least one dynamic live contentarea. The memory includes live content comprising image data andexpiration data. The e-mail provider system is communicatively coupledto the first remote device and to the memory. The e-mail provider systemis programmed and configured to: identify a plurality of recipients,each of the plurality of recipients having at least one attributeassociated therewith; send the e-mail message to the plurality ofrecipients; associate at least one of the at least one attribute withthe dynamic live content area; determine that a sent e-mail has beenopened by one of the plurality of recipients; and, upon determining thatan e-mail message has been opened by one of the plurality of recipients,access the memory to retrieve live content and send the retrieved livecontent for rendering in the dynamic live content area of the e-mailmessage opened by the one of the plurality of recipients.

According to yet another aspect of the disclosure, a method for sendingto a recipient an electronic mail message presenting live contentcomprises: providing a system for enabling the creation of and forsending the electronic message, the system comprising an outbound e-mailmanager, and a click manager; receiving a call for the live content fromthe electronic mail message at the click manager when the electronicmessage is opened by the recipient; and delivering to the electronicmail message the live content.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparentto those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode ofcarrying out the invention as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a UML diagram of one embodiment of a system and method ofproviding an e-mail containing live content;

FIG. 2 is a screen shot of a graphical user interface (“GUI”) presentedby a targeted advertising server for creating e-mail documents with alive content area utilizing HTML;

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of a graphical user interface (“GUI”) presentedby a targeted advertising server for creating e-mail documents with alive content area;

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of a graphical user interface (“GUI”) presentedby a targeted advertising server for creating e-mail documents with alive content area;

FIG. 5 is a screen shot of a graphical user interface (“GUI”) presentedby a targeted advertising server for creating e-mail documents with alive content area;

FIG. 6 is a screen shot of a graphical user interface (“GUI”) presentedby a targeted advertising server for creating e-mail documents with alive content area;

FIGS. 7A-7B are diagrammatic views of two embodiments of a system andmethod of providing e-mails:

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view of one embodiment of a system and methodof providing e-mails with live content in which the publisher has nocontrol over which live content is displayed in the e-mail;

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of the components of one embodiment of thedisclosed system;

FIG. 10 shows an e-mail message document with live content that includesgeneric content, multiple dynamic content areas and a live content area

FIG. 11 is a screen shot of an e-mail document with live content showinga coupon rendered at the time of opening as the live content;

FIG. 12 is a diagram of an embodiment of the disclosed system and methodwherein the live content delivered is a coupon;

FIG. 13 is a diagram of a tracking and reporting process implemented bythe disclosed system and method; and

FIG. 14 is a diagram of an embodiment of the disclosed system and methodwherein a client of the ESP designates that live content advertisementshould be included in e-mail messages sent to recipients but allowsadvertisers to load the advertisements to be presented as live contentin an adserver that is accessed to retrieve the live content at the timethe e-mail message is opened.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of thedisclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated inthe drawings and described in the following written specification. It isunderstood that no limitation to the scope of the disclosure is therebyintended. It is further understood that the present invention includesany alterations and modifications to the illustrated embodiments andincludes further applications of the principles of the disclosure aswould normally occur to one skilled in the art to which this inventionpertains.

As shown, for example, in FIG. 1, one embodiment of the disclosed systemand method includes a targeted e-mail service provider user interface(“ET UI”) 10 through which an e-mail creator 12 and/or an e-mail sender14 interact with an e-mail service provider (“ESP”) system 16 to createan e-mail document with embedded live content (e.g. an embedded adreference) 18. While the description herein will often refer to ads,advertisements or coupons, as the live content to which this disclosurerelates, it is within the scope of the disclosure for the live contentto be other materials. Such other materials may include, for example,other time sensitive materials that should be viewed before: a certainnumber of views; a deadline; depletion of a certain amount of inventory;or an expiration time. The process of creating the e-mail document withembedded live content 18 will be described in greater detail hereafter.

The step of creating the e-mail may include creating an e-mail documentwith at least one dynamic content area such as described in U.S.application Ser. No. 10/769,095, (U.S. Publication No. U.S. Pub. No.2004/0,215,479 A1) which dynamic content area is configured forreceiving live content.

Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown one embodiment of the componentsof the dynamic content e-mail marketing system that may be utilized togenerate an e-mail document containing dynamic live content. System 910comprises first remote device 912, ESP system, sometimes referred to ashost server, 916, database 918, second remote device 919, and computernetworks 920 and 921 and advertisement storage or ad store 32. Forpurposes of clarity, only one first remote device 912 and second remotedevice 919 and ad store 32 are shown in FIG. 9. However, it is withinthe scope of the present disclosure, and it will be appreciated by thoseof ordinary skill in the art, that the system 910 may have two or morefirst remote devices 912, second remote devices 919, and/or ad stores 32operating at the same time. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, firstremote device 912 is operated by an e-mail sender and second remotedevice 919 is operated by an e-mail recipient. However, it is within thescope of the present disclosure, and will be appreciated by one ofordinary skill in the art, that system 910 may simply comprise a singleremote device used by both the e-mail sender and the e-mail recipient.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9, ad store 32 is shown as beingseparate from, but accessible, by the host server 916. However, it iswithin the scope of the disclosure for ad store 32 to be implemented inthe database 18 or elsewhere in memory on the host server 916.Additionally, ad store 32 may be implemented in multiple memory deviceslocated at multiple sites, some of which are local on host server 916and some of which are remote from host server 916. In one embodiment,advertising media stored in ad store 32 is associated with currency dataindicative of the currency of the advertising media, similar to a “sellby” or “freshness date.” In one embodiment of the disclosed system andmethod, the currency data is utilized in determining which advertisementto render in the live content area 1006 of an e-mail message that isbeing opened. Alternatively, advertising media may be deleted from ormoved to an inactive area of the database when it is no longer relevant.

In one embodiment of the disclosed system, first remote device 912 andsecond remote device 919 are computers, computing devices, or systems ofa type well known in the art, such as a mainframe computer, workstation,personal computer, laptop computer, hand-held computer, cellulartelephone, or personal digital assistant. First remote device 912 andsecond remote device 919 comprise such software, hardware, andcomponentry as would occur to one of skill in the art, such as, forexample, one or more microprocessors, memory systems, input/outputdevices, device controllers, and the like. First remote device 912 andsecond remote device 919 also comprise one or more data entry means (notshown in FIG. 9) operable by users of first remote device 912 and secondremote device 919 for data entry, such as, for example, a pointingdevice (such as a mouse), keyboard, touchscreen, microphone, voicerecognition, and/or other data entry means known in the art. Firstremote device 912 and second remote device 919 also comprise a displaymeans (not shown in FIG. 9) which may comprise many of the well knowndisplay means such as cathode ray tube displays, liquid crystal diodedisplays, light emitting diode displays, etc., upon which informationmay be displayed in a manner perceptible to the user.

Resident on, or accessible by, second remote device 919 operated by thee-mail recipient is a software means known in the art for retrievinge-mail messages from an e-mail mailbox including, but not limited tosoftware means for viewing e-mail messages, for composing a response toan e-mail message, and for deleting an e-mail message.

Host server 916 comprises one or more server computers, computingdevices, or systems of a type known in the art. Host server 916 furthercomprises such software, hardware, and componentry as would occur to oneof skill in the art, such as, for example, microprocessors, memorysystems, input/output devices, device controllers, display systems, andthe like. Host server 916 may comprise one of many well known servers,such as, for example, IBM®'s AS/400® Server, IBM®'s AIX UNIX® Server, orMICROSOFT®'s WINDOWS NT® Server. In FIG. 9, host server 916 is shown andreferred to herein as a single server. However, host server 916 maycomprise a plurality of servers or other computing devices or systemsinterconnected by hardware and software systems know in the art whichcollectively are operable to perform the functions allocated to hostserver 916 in accordance with the present disclosure.

Database 918 is “associated with” host server 916. According to thepresent disclosure, database 918 is “associated with” host server 916where, as shown in the embodiment in FIG. 1, database 918 resides onhost server 916. Database 918 is also “associated with” host server 916where database 918 resides on a server or computing device remote fromhost server 916, provided that the remote server or computing device iscapable of hi-directional data transfer with host server 916.Preferably, the remote server or computing device upon which database918 resides is electronically connected to host server 916 such that theremote server or computing device is capable of continuousbi-directional data transfer with host server 916.

For purposes of clarity, database 918 is shown in FIG. 9, and referredto herein as a single database. It will be appreciated by those ofordinary skill in the art that database 918 may comprise a plurality ofdatabases connected by software systems of a type well known in the art,which collectively are operable to perform the functions delegated todatabase 918 according to the present disclosure. Database 918 maycomprise a relational database architecture or other databasearchitecture of a type known in the database art. Database 918 maycomprise one of many well known database management systems, such as,for example, MICROSOFT®'s SQL® Server, MICROSOFT®'s ACCESS®, or IBM®'sDB2® database management systems, or the database management systemsavailable from ORACLE® or SYBASE®. Database 918 retrievably storesinformation that is communicated to database 918 from first remotedevice 912 through computer network 920. In one embodiment, database 918may also retrievably store information that is communicated to database918 from second remote device 919 through computer network 921. In oneembodiment, database 918 may also retrievably store information that iscommunicated to database 918 from ad store 32.

First remote device 912 communicates with host server 916 via computernetwork 920 and second remote device 919 communicates with host server916 via computer network 921. For purposes of clarity, computer network920 and computer network 921 are shown in FIG. 9 as distinct computernetworks. However, computer networks 920 and 921 may comprise the samecomputer network. The communication between first remote device 912 andsecond remote device 919 and host server 916 may be bi-directional.Computer networks 920 and 921, or both, may comprise the Internet, butthis is not required. Other networks, such as Ethernet networks,cable-based networks, and satellite communications networks, well knownin the art, and/or any combination of networks are contemplated to bewithin the scope of the disclosure.

The e-mail creator 12 may access the ESP system 16 via a first remotedevice 912 coupled via a network 920 to the ESP system 16 as describedin U.S. application Ser. No. 10/769,095. The remote device may be acomputing device such as a P.C., laptop, personal digital assistant orother device having a network interface which may be running browsersoftware or is otherwise capable of interfacing with the ET UI 10.

While only a single e-mail creator 12, e-mail sender 14 and e-maildocument with an embedded live content ad reference 18 are shown, thedisclosure envisions that a plurality of e-mail creators 12, e-mailsenders 14 and e-mail documents with an embedded live content reference18 may be accommodated by the disclosed system and method.

In one specific embodiment of the disclosed system and method, thecreated e-mail document 18 is to be used in carrying out an advertisingcampaign utilizing e-mail messages delivered to recipients identified byan advertiser. The recipients 22 (shown as a single recipient, butenvisioned to include a plurality of recipients) may be persons who haveprovided their e-mail addresses and possibly other demographicinformation to the advertiser with the knowledge that they may receivee-mails sent on behalf of the advertiser, i.e. they may have “opted in”to receiving e-mails from the advertiser. The advertiser utilizing afirst remote device 912 may upload a list of recipients as well asdemographic information regarding each recipient that includes at leastone attribute utilized to select the appropriate dynamic content and/orthe appropriate live content to be included in the e-mail message openedby the recipient.

As shown, for example, in FIG. 10, the created e-mail document with livecontent 18 may include areas that include generic content 1002, such asthe name of the advertiser or person on whose behalf it is sent andother generic text or images, and one or more dynamic content areas1004, 1006 that will include dynamic content selected based on someappropriate criteria or attribute associated with the recipient, whichmay include demographic information regarding the recipient. At leastone dynamic content area 1006 in the e-mail document 18 is configured todisplay live content and is thus referred to as live dynamic contentarea or live content area 1006. In one embodiment of the disclosedsystem and method, the selection of appropriate content to populate thedynamic content area 1004 is accomplished as described in U.S. Pub. No.2004/0,215,479 and the selected dynamic content is rendered at the timethe e-mail is sent. The selection of the one or more items ofappropriate live content for rendering in the live dynamic content area1006 of the e-mail message at the time it is opened may also be based ondemographic information of the recipient. The live content may beselected from one or more dynamic content items uploaded for storage inan ad server 20.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the ad server 20 is a thirdparty ad server such as, for example, 24/7 Real Media®, andDoubleClick®'s Dart for Publishers®. Other third party ad servers may beutilized within the scope of the disclosure. It is also within the scopeof the disclosure for the ad server 20 to be a server implemented by theESP system 16. The ad server 20 may include memory or other storagemedia such as ad store 32 for storing the live content. Ad servers 20may include other server-side logic for real time rendering.

In one embodiment of the disclosed system, method and user interface, asshown, for example, in FIGS. 11-13, the live content displayed in thelive content area 1006 of the e-mail document with embedded live content18 is a coupon 1102 with an expiration date 1104. In FIG. 11, theillustrated e-mail with embedded live content 18 has been opened and isthus an opened e-mail 1100. This embodiment, allows cross channeltracking of the coupons issued and utilized. This embodiment may beutilized in different scenarios, such as, for example, allowing in storediscounts, offering callback incentives for in store purchases ofabandoned online items, or for geo-targeted “competitive couponing.”

It has been recognized that proximity to a shopping location influencesshopping preference with consumers exhibiting a location-based loyaltyto similar market retailers, such as, for example, large chain retailerswho sell home improvement items. “Competitive couponing” refers to theprocess whereby a retailer not in the home market of a consumer attemptsto draw the consumer away from a similar market retailer in theconsumer's home market by offering coupons to the consumer in the hopesthat the offered savings will induce the consumer to purchase an itemfrom the retailer's store rather than from a similar market retailer inthe consumer's home market. The market retailer will generally foregosending similar coupon offers to the consumers in their own marketterritory who would likely patronize the retailer's store based onproximity alone, thereby reducing wasteful spending on coupons. Themarket retailer will also generally forego sending similar coupon offersto the consumers who are too distant from their own market territory,thereby further reducing wasteful spending on coupons. Thus, competitivecouponing is considered to be geo-targeted advertising.

The image of the coupon 1102 may be stored in memory along withexpiration data, such as, for example, a time stamp, that indicates thelatest moment that the advertiser desires the coupon to be presented toa recipient, which is typically a date earlier than the expiration date1104 printed on the coupon. Expiration data may alternatively, oradditionally, include an initial fixed number or remaining number ofcoupons to be delivered which number may be decremented each time animage of the coupon 1102 is rendered. Expiration data may include dataregarding the remaining number of an item available in a limitedquantity, such as tickets to a sporting or entertainment event, seats onpublic transportation, etc. which number may be decremented each time anitem of limited quantity is acquired. The expiration data is associatedwith the live content image in memory by providing appropriate links orpointers or by storing the image and expiration data in fields of adatabase. The image and expiration data may be stored in an appropriatedata structure, such as a stack, a queue, a tree etc. along with otherlive content. Although this disclosure describes an “image” it should beunderstood that such term includes concepts such as text and otherfeatures that are to be presented as live content.

Desired attributes for recipients of the coupon to exhibit may also bestored in memory and associated with the image and the expiration datafor each live content item. Separate data structures identified by thedesired attribute which a recipient should exhibit to be presented withthe live content may be created so that when each recipient's attributeis determined, the link or code in the live content area 1006 may directthat the appropriate data structure be accessed to retrieve appropriatelive content for rendering in an opened e-mail 1100.

As shown, for example, in FIG. 12, a retailer 1202 wishing to offer toconsumers 1204 coupons 1006 rendered in an open e-mail 1100 generatesunique coupon codes for consumption by a point of sale system whichunique codes would be stored in a Point of Sale (POS) database 1210.Separate distinct coupon codes may be generated for each coupon inmultiple offers or coupon campaigns. For instance, one coupon campaignmay offer 40% discount on a particular item while a different couponcampaign may offer two for one pricing on a different item. Images aregenerated for each coupon to be presented for each distinct couponcampaign the coupon image will indicate the terms of the offer, anyexpiration date 1104 for accepting the offer and other information suchas a bar code or other indicia indicative of the unique coupon code1106. The image for each coupon is stored in a database, such as, forexample, ad store 32 (FIG. 1) or the coupon system 1206, associated withthe e-mail campaign or JobID 1222, coupon code 1224 and expiration dataindicative of the last date on which the coupon should be rendered in anopened e-mail 1110. The coupon image may also be stored with informationindicative of the types of demographic data, including geographiclocation data, any recipient of the coupon should exhibit. Theinformation associated with each coupon image facilitates trackingmultiple offers for reporting and billing purposes.

In one embodiment of the system and method, when a coupon has beenrendered at the time of the first opening of the e-mail 1100, the samecoupon is rendered (including the unique coupon number indicia) eachtime that e-mail is opened. If the e-mail is reopened after theexpiration date of the coupon, an image may be stored in the databaseassociated with the coupon that causes the e-mail engine to render an“Invalid Coupon” image on top of the coupon image or and “Offer NoLonger Valid” image in place of the coupon image. These “Invalid Offer”and or “Offer No Longer Valid” images may be generic images or may bespecific to each coupon campaign within the scope of the disclosure.These “Invalid Offer” and or “Offer No Longer Valid” images may containany appropriate message or indicia that would convey the message thatthe coupon is no longer valid. Alternatively, instead of an indicationthat the offer is no longer valid, a standard message or coupon (forexample 5% off any purchase) or different live content representing acurrent offer could be presented to the recipient.

E-mail messages with embedded live content 18 are generated by thee-mail engine 1208 of an ESP 16. As explained herein the e-mail messagewith embedded live content 18 may include generic information 1002,dynamic content that is rendered at the time of sending of the e-mail1004 based on certain parameters related to the intended recipient ofthe e-mail as described in U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0,215,479, and a dynamiclive content area 1006 in which live content (in this specific examplean image of a coupon 1102 and indicia of the unique coupon code 1106)will be rendered at the time of the e-mail open. At the time of sendingthe e-mail with embedded live content 18, code within, or associatedwith the, live content area 1006 is included which is returned to theESP 16 at the time the recipient or audience indicates a desire to openthe e-mail document. In one specific embodiment this code is aparameterized image IMG call inserted in the e-mail with embedded livecontent by the ESP which identifies the individual and the appropriatecoupon campaign to be rendered. One specific example of such an imagecall is: Pass Subscriber ID (/sub=123456) and jobID (&job-12345). Inaddition to the preceding code, internet visible values (e.g. in URLparameters) may be encoded in the parameterized image call as a securitymeasure to limit the ability of a recipient to change values and thusiterate through the available coupon codes This code contains indiciasufficient for the ESP to select appropriate live content to be renderedat the time the e-mail is opened.

When the e-mail with embedded live content 18 is opened theparameterized image call sends an IMG call to the coupon system 1206 sothat a coupon assignment may be made at the time the image of the couponis rendered. In one example, there are fewer codes created than thereare subscribers on the list of recipients of the e-mail with embeddedlive content 18. The number of unique coupon identifiers may be based onhistorical data related to past open rates for similar campaigns and thenumber of recipients on the list. In the event that the coupon codes areall assigned (i.e. more recipients open the e-mail than historical datawould predict), the “Offer No Longer Valid” image may be rendered inlieu of the image of the coupon.

Once a unique coupon code is assigned to a specific e-mail document atthe time it is opened, the coupon system 1206 is programmed to notassign that specific code to any other opened e-mail. However if thesame e-mail is opened more than once, the same coupon image with theunique code indicia as was previously rendered in that specific e-maildocument is again rendered for the e-mail, at least so long as the offerremains valid. Thus, when an image call is sent to the coupon system1206 an initial determination step 1240 is performed wherein it isdetermined whether a unique coupon code has been assigned to thespecific e-mail document being opened. Upon receipt of an image call,the coupon system 1206 is programmed to look up the unique couponidentifiers (subscriber and campaign) contained in the image call. Ifthe coupon has already been assigned to the subscriber for the specificcampaign, the same coupon image is again rendered in the live contentarea of the opened e-mail as was previously rendered, at least so longas the offer remains valid. If the coupon has not already been assigned,the coupon system 1206 is configured to write a new record in a trackingtable 1218 and render a new coupon in the opened e-mail with embeddedlive content 18 from which the IMG call was received. In one example,each record in the tracking table 1218 includes a subscriber ID 1220, aJobID 1222, a coupon code 1224 and a date stamp 1226. If the offer hasexpired or all of the unique coupon code have already been rendered, thealternate “Offer is No Longer Valid” image may be rendered in the livecontent area.

At some time, either prior to going to the point of sale or while at thepoint of sale the e-mail with the rendered image of the couponcontaining the unique coupon code is printed in a printing step 1260 bythe recipient in order to redeem the offer contained therein. Whiledescribed as being printed, it is within the scope of the disclosure forthe recipient to either present the printed coupon from step 1260 orpresent the coupon code at the point of the sale or otherwise displaythe e-mail containing the rendered image of the coupon in a presentationstep 1270, so that personnel or equipment at the point of sale mayvalidate die coupon in a validation step 1280. In one embodiment,validation of the coupon step 1280 includes determining whether theunique coupon code is valid and determining that the unique coupon codehas not been previously redeemed. The validation step 1280 may alsoinvolve recording usage information regarding the coupon usage bystoring data in the POS database indicative of one or more of the couponcode, a datestamp indicating the time of redemption, a basket amountshowing the total amount paid for all purchases during the redemption ofthe coupon, a discount amount, CC information, and basket informationsuch as the SKUs for all items purchased during the coupon redemption,the departments from which items were purchased and/or other informationregarding purchases made during coupon redemption.

As shown, for example, in FIG. 13, the tracking and reporting processassociated with presenting e-mails with embedded live content 18 whereinthe live content is a coupon 1102 includes several steps. As previouslymentioned, at the time of redemption of the coupon, as a portion of thevalidation step 1280, redemption information is stored in the point ofsale database 1210 associated with each unique coupon code. In theexample shown in FIG. 13, this redemption information 1310 for eachcoupon code may include the coupon code, the datestamp of the time ofthe redemption, the basket amount, the discount amount and CCinformation. The retailer provides the redemption information 1310 tothe coupon system 1206. It is within the scope of the disclosure thatnot all of the redemption information collected during the validationstep 1280 for storage in the point of sale database 1210 is reported tothe coupon system 1206. For instance, in some examples, only the couponcode and datestamp of the time of redemption is reported to the couponsystem 1206 for each coupon code. Additionally, the basket amount may bereported to the coupon system 1206 by the retailer 1202. The retailermay have an internal data warehouse (not shown) to which they transfersome or all of the redemption information 1310 regarding each couponcode for more permanent storage in order to free up memory in the pointof sale database.

In the disclosed embodiment, the coupon system 1206 and the e-mailengine 1208 are implemented by an ESP system 16. The system 16 mayinclude a coupon reporting database 1320 wherein the redemptioninformation 1310 received from the retailer 1202 is stored for mergingwith information generated by the e-mail engine 1208. The ESP 16utilizing the tracking table 1218 generated by the coupon system 1206 atthe time of coupon assignment, the e-mail engine 1208 can look up thee-mail address to which each unique coupon code was assigned in a lookupe-mail address step 1330. The email engine can then generate a reportingtracking table 1340 including data extracts that are Application Programinterface (API) or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) accessible to the couponsystem 1206 for each unique coupon code. As shown, for example, in FIG.13, the data extracts included in the reporting tracking table 1340 mayinclude the e-mail address of the recipient to whom each unique couponcode was assigned, the JobID for the job that the coupon was servedfrom, the coupon code and a date stamp of when the coupon was assigned.

The reporting tracking table 1340 generated by the e-mail engine 1208may be merged with the redemptions information 1310 stored in the couponreporting database 1320 by the coupon system 1206 to generate a couponredemption report 1350. The coupon redemption report 1350 and any datacontained therein, in one embodiment, is available online to theretailer 1202. The data included in the coupon redemption report 1350may be organized by e-mail campaign, by coupon campaign or by e-mailrecipient. Among the type of information which may be present in thecoupon redemption report include the redemption rate compared to e-mailsdelivered or e-mails opened and/or the redemption lag time determinedfrom the datestamp of the unique coupon code assignment contained in thereporting tracking table 1340 and the datestamp for the time ofredemption contained in the redemption information 1310.

The system 16 via the coupon system 1206 may provide an administrativeinterface such as user interface 10 in FIG. 1 generated by the ESP'sserver that facilitates creation of new coupon campaigns by permittingthe retailer 1202 interfacing with the administrative interface, such asvia a first remote device, to enter information indicative of the nameand description of the new coupon campaign, to enter informationestablishing an end date at which the coupon is no longer to be served,an upload tool for uploading coupon images and alternative imagesspecific to the campaign and an import tool for new coupon codesassociated with the campaign.

The administrative interface may also be utilized to display orotherwise report to the retailer 1202 tracking information, regardingany ongoing coupon campaigns. Among the information that may bepresented by the interface is real time information regarding couponavailability, including the number of total unique coupon codesuploaded, the number of unique coupon codes assigned to a consumer, thenumber of remaining unassigned unique coupon codes, the percentage ofavailable unique coupon codes assigned, the time at which the firstunique coupon code was assigned, the time elapsed since the assignmentof the first unique coupon code, the average rate per time period (perminute, per hour, per day, per week) that unique coupon codes have beenassigned, the peak distribution rate per time period, and/or otherinformation that can be calculated or otherwise gleaned from theinformation stored in the tracking table 1218 or information stored inmemory or on any database accessible by the ESP, including but notlimited to the coupon reporting database 1320, ad store 32, and/or thedatabase 918. Utilizing the administrative interface the retailer 1202may be provided access to raw data extracts utilized to generate thecoupon redemption report 1350.

In other embodiments of the disclosed system and method, the livecontent displayed in the live content area 1006 of the e-mail withembedded live content 18 may be an advertisement that includes an imagepresenting an offer or an opportunity that is available for a limitedtime (e.g. year end sale from December 26 to December 31), is availableonly on certain days of the week (e.g. kids under 12 eat free fromchildren's menu on Tuesdays with purchase of adult meal) or the year(e.g. complimentary birthday meals) etc. The image presenting the offeror opportunity is stored in memory associated with expiration data andpossibly desired attributes that should be exhibited by a recipient. Theimage, expiration data and desired attributes may be stored in adatabase or other appropriate memory structure. Accepting the offer ortaking advantage of the opportunity may require accessing a webpage orfollowing a link. Java scripts or other code, such as URLs may be storedin memory associated with the live content in such situations.

As shown for example, in FIG. 7, in one embodiment of the disclosedsystem and method the e-mail creator 12, referred to in this embodimentas the publisher 12, may be a person who has indicated their willingnessto allow advertising to be embedded in e-mails sent on his or her behalfby an ESP using system 16 who has indicated that advertisements may beembedded in the e-mail by including appropriate live content code todesignate a live content area 1006 in the e-mail document with embeddedlive content 18. In such an embodiment, the e-mail creator 12 may beendeavoring to fund or monetize an e-mail subscription service whereinthey are providing e-mails containing relevant content to subscriberrecipients who have opted into the subscription service. Such an e-mailsubscription service could be funded or monetized by the e-mail creator12 receiving all or a portion of the advertising revenue generated fromplacement of advertising materials in e-mails sent to subscribers orfrom receiving a credit for all or a portion of the advertisementrevenue generated against costs charged by an ESP sending the e-mailssent to subscribers.

In one embodiment of the disclosed system and method, the e-maildocument may be created utilizing hypertext mark up language (“HTML”) oranother appropriate language for generating e-mail documents. In analternative embodiment of the disclosed system and method the e-maildocument may be created utilizing a graphical user interface (“GUI”),examples of which are illustrated in FIGS. 2-6, providing appropriatetools for entering generic content such as text and images and foridentifying one or more areas of the e-mail document that will receivedynamic content, at least one of such areas being configured forreceiving live content. The GUI is configured to generate andappropriately embedded HTML statement in the e-mail document. The GUIwill generate appropriate code for inclusion in the e-mail document toproperly render an e-mail at the time of opening which e-mail willinclude live content.

As shown, for example, in FIG. 1, an e-mail sender 14 indicates that ane-mail should be sent in a send e-mail step. The send message step mayinclude an indication of the recipients 22 who should receive an e-mailmessage and the e-mail document with embedded live content 18 thatshould be sent. The e-mail message sender 14 may be the e-mail creator12, a third party or some automated system that requests that e-mails besent according to its programming. An outbound message manager 24accesses the appropriate e-mail document with live content 18 referencedin the e-mail send request, interprets code or other statements in orassociated with the referenced e-mail document to determine theattributes used to select the appropriate dynamic content to be includedin the dynamic content areas 1004, 1006 of the e-mail document,including any attributes to be used to determine the appropriate livecontent to be included in the live content area 1006, accesses memorylocations wherein data is stored to determine what attributes areexhibited by each recipient and constructs at least portions of thee-mail message to be sent to each recipient.

In one embodiment, for all dynamic content areas 1004 of the e-maildocument that does not include live content, the appropriate dynamiccontent for each recipient 22 is embedded and rendered in the e-mailmessage to be sent to each recipient by accessing the appropriate memorylocation to retrieve the appropriate dynamic content. In this specificembodiment, the outbound message manager 24 also determines what livecontent would be currently appropriate for including in the e-mailmessage to be sent to each indicated recipient 22. Upon determining thecurrently appropriate live content for each recipient, the outboundmessage manager 24 accesses the memory location (often on memoryavailable to the ad server 20) where the currently appropriate livecontent is stored, and downloads the image, attribute and expirationdata and any java script or other code that controls interactions withthe live content for the currently appropriate live content for eache-mail recipient 22. The outbound message manager 24 stores thedownloaded data in a memory location, such as for example in the linkstore memory 26, accessible by the click manager 28 and associates itwith some identifier for the appropriate e-mail message. Once theoutbound message manager 24 has assembled each e-mail message to be sentby embedding the appropriate non-live content dynamic content in thedynamic content area 1004 of the e-mail message with embedded livecontent 18 and leaving the appropriate code from the e-mail document 18for the live content selection (which appears to be a link to a browser)in the e-mail message without including an image, each e-mail message soconstructed is sent to an e-mail transfer agent 30 for delivery to theappropriate recipient 22. The outbound message manager 24 ensures thatthe ‘Track all links found within this e-mail’ feature is enabled whenthe e-mail is sent so that appropriate data can be acquired for billingand reporting to advertisers.

The e-mail messages sent to each recipient 22 do not include any javascript or other code required for live content which may render thee-mail message undeliverable. Delivery of each e-mail message is trackedin a conventional manner. Tracking links for each e-mail message sentare stored in link store 26.

In making the determination of which dynamic content should be includedin the dynamic content areas 1004, it is possible that no availabledynamic content will satisfy the criteria set forth in the e-maildocument for selecting dynamic content. Default content that is not timesensitive may be provided for inclusion in dynamic content areas 1004 ifno other content meets all of the criteria set forth in the e-maildocument 18. Appropriate if-then-else logic may be applied by theoutbound message manager 24 to determine whether dynamic content ordefault content will be included in each dynamic content area 1004 ofthe e-mail document. Alternatively, if no appropriate content is foundfor inclusion in one or more dynamic content areas 1004 in the e-maildocument, at the time the outbound e-mail manager 24 assembles an e-mailfor delivery, the code in dynamic content area 1004 may be left in thee-mail or may be modified if necessary to send an HTTP call to the clickmanager 28 at the time the e-mail is opened requesting that any thenappropriate available dynamic content be rendered in the dynamic contentarea 1004. The click manager 28 may then apply the appropriateif-then-else logic to deliver then available appropriate dynamic contentor default content if no appropriate dynamic content is available forrendering in the dynamic content area 1004. Alternatively, if noappropriate dynamic content is available either at assembly or at open,the dynamic content area 1004 for which no appropriate content isavailable may be left blank when the e-mail message is rendered.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that since the e-mail messageviewed by the recipient is not fully rendered until opened, it is withinthe scope of the disclosure for the non-live dynamic content area 1004and the appropriate live dynamic content area 1006 to be treated in thesame manner as the live content area 1006 and live content is treated bythe outbound message manager 24.

Each recipient 22 accesses their e-mail via a computing device runningan e-mail client, such as, for example, a second remote device 919. Thee-mail client may be a thick client with an HTML agent, such as Outlook®from MicroSoft®, or a web based e-mail client such as Yahoo Mail®. Whenthe recipient 22 opens the e-mail message, the embedded live contentcode is perceived to be a link to a browser and thus an HTTP callindicative that the e-mail has been opened is sent to the click manager28. In one embodiment, the open e-mail( ) HTTP Get-style ad request callsent to the click manager 28 includes API calls wrapped in a URL. In oneembodiment the entire ad URL is embedded inside the live content area1006 of the e-mail document with embedded live content 18. The outputtype for the live content is HTML. In one embodiment the live content orad to be displayed in the live content area 1006 is ‘display ad’-type ad(<a href= . . . ><img src= . . . ></a>). The live content Ad URL returnsa single display ad (multiple ads require multiple ad_insert blocks).

In one embodiment, one wrapped API induces the ESP system 16 to checkthe previously stored live content satisfying the ad request from theopened e-mail to determine if it is still timely by checking itsassociated expiration data. If the previously stored live content isstill timely, the ESP system 16 delivers the image for the live contentand any java or control codes to the recipient and the e-mail message isrendered. If the previously stored live content is no longer timely, theclick manager 28 requests new timely live content from the ad server 20which satisfies the parameters of the ad request in an HTTP request thatmay include an API to the ad server 20. The ESP system 16 stores theimage, expiration data, attribute data and any java script or ad controlcode of appropriate live content return from the ad server 20 in memory,such as for example in ad store 32. The ad image is returned in responseto a get ad image( ) call generated by the opening of the e-maildocument with embedded live content 18 by the recipient 22. If theadvertisement returned from the ad server 20 includes an ad redirectpage, it is returned in response to a get ad page ( ) call.

The click manager causes the ad redirect page to be stored in ad storememory 32. In one embodiment, the redirect page is stored via a storeadd redirection page( ) call. In one embodiment, the click manager 28delivers the image for the appropriate live content to the recipient viaa serve ad image( ) call. Upon receipt of the ad image, the e-mailmessage is finally rendered with the appropriate general, dynamic andlive content. Thus e-mail messages including live content are firstrendered following opening.

The click manager 28 continues to monitor recipient 22 interactions withthe e-mail. If the image delivered for display in the live content areais clicked, the e-mail client sends an HTTP click ad link( ) call to theclick manager 28. In response to receipt of the click ad link( ) callthe click manager 28 retrieves the redirection page from ad store memory32 utilizing a Get ad redirection page( ) call and stores dataindicating that the ad was clicked upon for billing and reportingpurposes. The click manager 28 sends the appropriate redirection page tothe second remote device accessed by the recipient 22 via an HTTP servead redirection page( ) call.

In one embodiment, each time the e-mail message is re-opened by therecipient, the system delivers appropriate live content for rendering inthe live content area in the manner described above. The reference to animage is not to a fixed location, but rather triggers live content'sserver side processing that determines, in real time, the image to bedisplayed based on parameters such as time, number of impressionsalready delivered for an image and/or other appropriate parameters.

In one embodiment of the disclosed system and method HTML is utilized tocreate the e-mail document with live content 18. However, since manytargeted advertising servers or ESPs using, for example system 16, asillustratively shown in FIG. 7, deliver e-mails for clients or e-mailcreators 12 that do not desire live content but do wish to haveadvertisements sold to an advertiser 40 displayed in their e-mails, asshown for example, in FIG. 7A, and for clients 12 who do desire thatlive content from advertisers 40 be included in their e-mails, as shown,for example, in FIGS. 7B and 8, a business rule (here used in the senseof a switch or flag indicating to the system that live content may beincluded in an e-mail) may be turned on or set with regard to clientsrequesting the ability to designate live content areas 1006 in theire-mail documents. In one example a system operator for the ESP system 16may enable business rule EMBEDDED_AD_SUPPORT on the account associatedwith a client that is to be allowed to use this functionality.

FIGS. 2-6 are screen shots of a various screens of GUIs generated by thetargeted advertising server to facilitate creation of e-mail documentswith live content areas.

As shown, for example, in FIG. 2, the targeted advertising server maygenerate a GUI 210 that facilitates creating an e-mail document having alive content area 1006 through entry of HTML code in appropriate areas.The GUI 210 may include a Preview HTML tab 220, an edit HTML tab 230, aPreview Text Version tab 240, an Edit Text Version tab 250, a sende-mail button 260 and a close button 270. When the edit HTML tab 230 isselected as shown in FIG. 2, the various content areas of the e-mail tobe created are displayed and text or appropriate HTML code can beentered into text boxes within the screen. In FIG. 2 the only contentarea containing text is a live content area 280. Other areas of thee-mail document have yet to be identified as general or generic contentareas, dynamic content areas or live content areas 280. In the livecontent area 280 the appropriate HTML code is entered to set theattributes and instructions for selecting appropriate live content to bedisplayed in the live content area 1006 when the e-mail is rendered atthe time it is opened.

The e-mail creator 12 accessing the GUI 210, after designating a livecontent area 280 may manually type or copy a URL to the live content(referred to as an ad URL) to be embedded in the live Content area 1006of the sent and opened e-mail. In one embodiment the entire ad URL mustbe embedded inside the live content area 280 and must call an HTML Adoutput type to allow rendering the appropriate live content in the livecontent area 1006 of the e-mail 18 when it is opened.

Publisher ID and other parameters are entered manually in oneembodiment. Utilizing the GUI 210, the e-mail creator 12 creates thee-mail that will have the embedded live content by designating areas forgeneral content, dynamic content and live content 280. In oneembodiment, the e-mail creator 12 inserts the tag ‘ad_insert’into thecontent area(s) 280 where the live content ad should display whencreating the e-mail document utilizing the GUI 210. The ad_insert tagshould include text that provides the details of the publisher and slot(and the URL).

In one embodiment of the GUI 210, the ad_insert tag utilizes the context%%ad_insert:<ad>%%. An appropriate ad_insert tag should be insertedwherever a live content ad should appear. The e-mail creator 12 shouldreplace <ad> with URL-encoded address (including query stringparameters) of the ad server 20 from which the live content should beretrieved. The tag ‘ad_insert’ should only be placed into live contentarea(s) 280 of the e-mail document with live content 18 and shouldprovide the details of the publisher and slot (and the URL). In theillustrated GUI, Publisher ID and other parameters may be enteredmanually. Users can use standard syntax to perform subscriber-levelsubstitutions in embedded ad strings for cust_params query parameter orfor geo-targeting parameters (gr, gl). Additionally, users can use asystem substitution string %%ip_addr%% for ip-based geo-targeting. Byutilizing a correlator query parameter improved ad rotation may beimplemented through system management. The user should, if desiredprovide any required substitution strings for cust_params orgeo-targeting. Prior to pressing the send button, tracking should be onfor the send.

Below are examples of ad_insert tags exhibiting different functionality:

-   -   Example 1: No substitution strings    -   %%ad_iscrt:client=ca-pub-0123902782641168&slotname=email_300x250        -   &page_slots=email_300x250&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exacttarget.com            %2F:%%    -   Example 2: Substitution strings    -   %%ad_insert:client=ca-pub-0123902782641168&slotname=email_300x250        -   &page_slots=email_300x250&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exactarget.com            %2F        -   &gpr=%%Region%%:%%    -   %%ad_insert:client=ca-pub-012390278264168&slotname=email_300x250        -   &page_slots=email_300x250&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exacttarget.com            %2F        -   &cust_params=gender%3D%%=LOWERCASE(Gender)%%:%%    -   Example 3: IP-based geo-targeting    -   %%ad_insert:client=ca-pub-0123902782641168&slotname=email_300x250        -   &page_slots=email_300x250&ip-%%ip_addr%%&url=http%3A%2F%2F            www.exacttarget.com%2F:%%

FIGS. 3-6 illustrate screens of a GUI generated by the ESP system 16 tofacilitate creation of an e-mail document with live content 18. FIG. 3shows a top level screen 310 and a select orientation screen 410. Thetop level screen 310 includes a create button 320 which when clickedcauses the GUI to generate the select orientation screen 410, shown ingreater detail in FIG. 4. The orientation screen 410 displays severalthumbnail images that may be selected by clicking thereon which definethe initial layout of the content area of the e-mail document 18. Oncean initial layout thumbnail is selected, the next button 420 may beselected to generate a similar screen from which another thumbnail maybe selected for an overlay layout that is displayed on the initiallayout. Layouts may be sized by click and drag operations. FIG. 6 showsan e-mail document generated by clicking on the initial layout thumbnaildesignated image left, clicking on the next button 420 and then clickingon the live content thumbnail and sizing the live content layout.

FIG. 5 is a screen shot of a select live content screen 510 that isgenerated by the ESP system 16 when a live content area 280 is selectedfor the e-mail document. The screen 510 includes ad server buttons 520whereby the appropriate ad server 20 may be selected to designate fromwhere the live content should be retrieve. An upload button 530 isprovided for uploading images for utilization as live content images notavailable on an ad server. Image size buttons 540 are provided forselecting the desired relative size of the image to be presented in thelive content area 1006 of the e-mail document with embedded live content18. A URL text box 550 is provided for manual entry of a URL forcontrolling the live content to be displayed in the live content area.Utilizing the GUI shown in FIGS. 3-6, users can select from a drop-downlist in an editor to insert preconfigured portions of ad_insert tagsrelated to specific advertisements into the live content area. Theillustrated GUI allows configuration of account-level attributes such asPublisher id and Ad-server URL. The illustrated GUI allows mapping ofsubscriber attributes to ad-slot custom and native attributes.

One embodiment of the disclosed system and method provides a contentintegration framework that allows content to be supplied using dynamicimages within e-mail messages. The ESP system 16 obtains the appropriateadvertisement server-side and embeds the image within the e-mail messagewhen opened. Embedded dynamic image rendering of advertisementallows: 1) Accurate measurement of opens (impressions) andclick-throughs; 2) avoiding wasting ad dollars in e-mails that are notopened; 3) avoiding blocking of live content advertisements by ISPbecause no JavaScript is included in the delivered e-mail message; 4)delivery of time based relevant advertising—E-mails opened today mayserve different advertisements than e-mails opened next week; and 5)advertising targeting based not just on content of e-mail but alsorecipient attributes.

In one embodiment of the disclosed system and method, at the time ane-mail with embedded live content 18 is opened, the image to bepresented in the live content area 1006 is requested from the ad server20. The e-mail content is read by the ad server 20. A targetedadvertisement is generated by ad server 20. The advertisement isrendered in an image and served to the e-mail recipient. Theadvertisement is listed as a page view within a tracking database. Ifclicked, the click-through is passed through the tracking database. Theclick-through registers the targeting advertising server as a source andthe advertisers' accounts are appropriately updated.

A general enterprise marketing embodiment of the disclosed system andmethod allows business to monetize their advertising with highlyrelevant live content ads. A publishing industry embodiment of thedisclosed system and method allows publishers to manage all of their adsin one place and enable ad servers to capitalize on the publishersunsold e-mail inventory. An SMB Market embodiment of the disclosedsystem and method allows: ad servers or other advertisers to offer afree newsletter service in return for serving up highly relevant liveads in those e-mails.

There are several opportunities to leverage live content ads in e-mailfor targeted marketing servers, shown, for example, in FIGS. 7B, 8 and14.

ESP targeted marketing servers may integrate with Ad Servers allowingexisting customers to leverage ad content managed by third party adservers, as shown, for example, in FIGS. 7B and 8. The customers whosell ads directly on their website, could now sell and manage ads ine-mails in a similar fashion to their web page inventory. Examples of adservers 20 are 24/7 Real Media®, and DoubleClick®'s Dart forPublishers®.

ESP system 16 may integrate with third party ad networks allowingcustomers to place third party ads within their e-mails, as shown, forexample, in FIG. 14. Customers who do have the staff to sell ad space intheir e-mails can monetize their e-mail program by placing ads managedand hosted by third party ad networks. Examples of third party adnetworks are Google® AdSense®, Microsoft® AdCenter®, Yahoo® Advertising,Ad Knowledge®, and many more.

The targeted marketing server may create an advertising exchange wherethe targeting market server becomes an ad network that connectsadvertisers with e-mail marketers. This makes the ad inventory purchasedby advertisers available to customers to place in their e-mails in an adexchange.

The targeting marketing server may go to market directly or through apartner to offer a free newsletter service in return for serving uphighly relevant and local ads in those e-mails.

According to one embodiment of the disclosed system and method, asshown, for example, in FIG. 14, a third-party ad server 20 supplies livecontent for display within a live content area 1006 of an e-mail messageoriginally sent by a ESP system 16 to a recipient. The ESP system 16, inat least one embodiment, utilizes demographic or other informationregarding the recipient who has just opened an e-mail to selectappropriate live content for display in the live dynamic content area1006 of the e-mail document with embedded live content. The appropriatelive content is obtained server-side by the ESP system 16 at the timethe e-mail message is opened by the recipient. The ESP system 16utilizes embedded dynamic image rendering of the live content. Utilizingembedded dynamic rendering of the live content facilitates accuratemeasurement of the number of impressions (i.e. e-mail openings) andinteractions (click throughs) of the live content. This provides a moreaccurate measurement of revenue generating events for the pricing schemeutilized for selling the advertising (e.g. CPM impressions or CPC). As aresult, advertising dollars are not wasted on e-mails that are notopened. Since the embedded dynamic image rendering does not utilizeJavaScript imbedded in the e-mail message, which is often blocked bye-mail filters, to deliver the live content the e-mail messages thatwill present the live content is less likely to be blocked by aninternet service provider (“ISP”). Utilizing embedded dynamic imagerendering to deliver the live content, allows the live content renderedin the e-mail at the time of opening to be time relevant live content.As mentioned above, the appropriate live content may also be selectednot only on a time sensitive basis but also based on the content of thee-mail message and/or other demographic information or attributes of therecipient.

In one embodiment of the disclosed system and method, an e-mail creatoror client 12 creates an e-mail document with embedded live content 18 bydesignating a live content area 1006 wherein they are willing to havelive content from a third party ad server 20 displayed. An ESP system 16sends multiple e-mail documents with embedded live content 18 to aplurality of recipients or subscribers 22 by sending the e-mail messageto a remote device accessed by the subscriber 22. When the recipient 22interacts with the remote device to indicate a desire to open suche-mail message 18, the remote device executing code embedded in thee-mail document 18 requests an image from the web server for display inthe live content area 1006 configured to display live content.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference tocertain preferred embodiments and specific examples, variations andmodifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention asdescribed and as defined in the following claims.

1. A system for introducing live content into an electronic mail messagecomprising a dynamic live content area sent through an e-mail serviceprovider system, the system comprising: memory including live contentcomprising image data and expiration data; a server that: identifies arecipient, wherein the recipient is associated with at least oneattribute; sends the electronic mail message to the recipient; andassociates the at least one attribute associated with the recipient withthe dynamic live content area of the electronic mail message; and aclick manager that receives an indication of the opening of theelectronic mail message by the recipient, wherein the click manageraccesses the memory to retrieve live content based on the at least oneattribute associated with the recipient and the dynamic live contentarea of the electronic mail message and sends the retrieved live contentfor rendering in the dynamic live content area of the electronic mailmessage opened by the recipient.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theattribute associated with the recipient and the dynamic live contentarea of the electronic mail message is used by the click manager todetermine the live content to retrieve from memory after the electronicmail message is sent to the recipient and after the click managerreceives the indication of the opening of the electronic mail message bythe recipient.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least oneattribute comprises demographic information about the recipient.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the server further identifies a secondrecipient, wherein the second recipient is associated with at least asecond attribute; sends a second electronic mail message to the secondrecipient, wherein the second electronic email message is a copy of theelectronic mail message; and associates the at least a second attributeassociated with the second recipient with a dynamic live content area ofthe second electronic mail message sent to the second recipient.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein the click manager is further configuredreceive an indication of the opening of the second electronic mailmessage by the second recipient, wherein the click manager accesses thememory to retrieve second live content based on the at least a secondattribute associated with the second recipient and the dynamic livecontent area of the second electronic mail message and sends theretrieved second live content for rendering in the dynamic live contentarea of the second electronic mail message opened by the secondrecipient, wherein the second live content is different from the livecontent.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the live content is a firstcoupon and the second live content is a second coupon different from thefirst coupon.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least oneattribute is a location of the recipient and wherein the at least asecond attribute is a location of the second recipient.
 8. A method forintroducing live content into an electronic mail message comprising atleast one dynamic live content area sent through an e-mail serviceprovider system, the method comprising: receiving, at a computerizedemail processing system, an electronic mail message; identifying arecipient, wherein the recipient is associated with at least oneattribute; sending the electronic mail message to the recipient;associating the at least one attribute associated with the recipientwith the dynamic live content area of the electronic mail messagereceiving an indication of the opening of the electronic mail message bythe recipient; accessing a memory to retrieve live content based on theat least one attribute associated with the recipient and the dynamiclive content area of the electronic mail message; and sending theretrieved live content for rendering in the dynamic live content area ofthe electronic mail message opened by the recipient.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising using the attribute associated with therecipient and the dynamic live content area of the electronic mailmessage to determine the live content to retrieve from memory after thesending of the electronic mail message to the recipient and after thereceiving the indication of the opening of the electronic mail messageby the recipient.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least oneattribute comprises demographic information about the recipient.
 11. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising: identifying a second recipient,wherein the second recipient is associated with at least a secondattribute; sending a second electronic mail message to the secondrecipient, wherein the second electronic email message is a copy of theelectronic mail message; and associating the at least a second attributeassociated with the second recipient with a dynamic live content area ofthe second electronic mail message sent to the second recipient.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: receiving an indication of theopening of the second electronic mail message by the second recipient;accessing the memory to retrieve second live content based on the atleast a second attribute associated with the second recipient and thedynamic live content area of the second electronic mail message; sendingthe retrieved second live content for rendering in the dynamic livecontent area of the second electronic mail message opened by the secondrecipient, wherein the second live content is different from the livecontent.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the live content is a firstcoupon and the second live content is a second coupon different from thefirst coupon.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least oneattribute is a location of the recipient and wherein the at least asecond attribute is a location of the second recipient.
 15. A systemcomprising: one or more computers and one or more storage devicesstoring instructions which are operable, when executed by the one ormore computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operationscomprising: receiving, at a computerized email processing system, anelectronic mail message; identifying a recipient, wherein the recipientis associated with at least one attribute; sending the electronic mailmessage to the recipient; associating the at least one attributeassociated with the recipient with the dynamic live content area of theelectronic mail message receiving an indication of the opening of theelectronic mail message by the recipient; accessing a memory to retrievelive content based on the at least one attribute associated with therecipient and the dynamic live content area of the electronic mailmessage; and sending the retrieved live content for rendering in thedynamic live content area of the electronic mail message opened by therecipient.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions furthercause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising usingthe attribute associated with the recipient and the dynamic live contentarea of the electronic mail message to determine the live content toretrieve from memory after the sending of the electronic mail message tothe recipient and after the receiving the indication of the opening ofthe electronic mail message by the recipient.
 17. The system of claim16, wherein the at least one attribute comprises demographic informationabout the recipient.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein theinstructions further cause the one or more computers to performoperations comprising: identifying a second recipient, wherein thesecond recipient is associated with at least a second attribute; sendinga second electronic mail message to the second recipient, wherein thesecond electronic email message is a copy of the electronic mailmessage; and associating the at least a second attribute associated withthe second recipient with a dynamic live content area of the secondelectronic mail message sent to the second recipient.
 19. The system ofclaim 18, wherein the instructions further cause the one or morecomputers to perform operations comprising: receiving an indication ofthe opening of the second electronic mail message by the secondrecipient; accessing the memory to retrieve second live content based onthe at least a second attribute associated with the second recipient andthe dynamic live content area of the second electronic mail message;sending the retrieved second live content for rendering in the dynamiclive content area of the second electronic mail message opened by thesecond recipient, wherein the second live content is different from thelive content.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the live content is afirst coupon and the second live content is a second coupon differentfrom the first coupon.